Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a pharmaceutical composition for enhancing immunity, including ginsenoside F1 as an active ingredient.
Further, the present invention relates to a food composition for enhancing immunity, including ginsenoside F1 as an active ingredient.
Further, the present invention relates to a method of enhancing immunity, including administering ginsenoside F1 to a subject.
Further, the present invention relates to a composition for producing perforin or granzyme, including ginsenoside F1 and natural killer cells.
Description of the Related Art
Immunity is largely divided into innate immunity that is present at birth and acquired immunity that is acquired by adaptation during life. Here, innate immunity, also called ‘natural immunity’, provides a non-specific response against pathogens, and has no specific memory function. Actually, such innate immunity defends most infections. In contrast, acquired immunity has a memory function against the re-exposed invading pathogens, and when invasion of the same pathogens occurs again, a specific immune response begins to effectively eliminate the pathogens.
In recent years, there has been a problem that internal factors such as the lack of physical activity, stress, etc. and external factors such as air pollution, etc. act in combination to remarkably lower immunity. Therefore, it is necessary to study substances showing immune enhancing effects, and in particular, the importance of innate immunity broadly involved in defense against most infections is increasing.
Korean Patent Publication No. 10-2015-0011576 discloses a pharmaceutical composition for enhancing immunity, including the root of Eleutherococcus senticosus as an active ingredient. Korean Patent Publication No. 10-2014-0148087 discloses an anti-viral composition and enhancing innate immunity, including an extract of Phellodendron Amurense bark. Many studies have been actively conducted on immune enhancing compositions including natural substances among a variety of substances.
Meanwhile, ginsenoside is a saponin present in ginseng. There are more than 30 different kinds of ginsenosides, which are divided into PPD (protopanaxadiol)-type and PPT (protopanaxatriol)-type according to their structures. Ginsenosides are known to exhibit different pharmacological activities depending on their chemical structures (Curr Vasc Pharmacol. 2009 July; 7(3):293-302). Among the ginsenosides, minor ginsenosides are present in very small amounts in ginseng, and it is difficult to separate minor ginsenosides. Therefore, studies on minor ginsenosides have not been actively conducted vet.
Accordingly, the present inventors have made many efforts to find a compound. having excellent immune enhancing effects. As a result, they found that ginsenoside F1 has excellent immune enhancing effects, in particular, innate immune enhancing effects, compared to other ginsenosides, thereby completing the present invention.